Bad Math, save my beer please!

Use it as a yeast starter for another beer and have some crushable beer on hand!

 

Add some Malto-Dextrin powder at bottling. It is unfermentable and will add some body back to it, just don't add too much.

 

I have had numerous 3.6% ABV Pale Ales (Bitter Ales) in the UK and as long as the beer had a bit of body I enjoyed drinking them. When they were too thin they had a watery quality which I personally did not enjoy.

IMO @jbakajust1 has the right suggestion to just add some Malto-Dextrin powder at bottling to ensure that this beer has a bit of body to it.

Cheers!

 

I have never added malt extract to a beer after the yeast was pitched (let alone one week later). I have no idea whether there will be problems in doing this. Maybe you could run this experiment and report back your findings?

Cheers!

 

Because this late in the game the yeast have finished doing there work and settled down. If you add new fermentables they may not do all the work needed to finish the job, and then finish it in the bottles over time creating bottle bombs. There is also the potential that if they do finish up in a week or so (not just fermenting the added fermentables, but cleaning up byproducts) the fresh punch of the dry hops may have changed.

 

Good point. I have no idea whether the risk of yeast not fully fermenting the fermentables in the primary but would do so in the bottle is quantifiable but I personally would choose to not accept that risk.

Cheers!

 

While there are ways to estimate an expected final gravity (e.g., tools like Beersmith, Brewers Friend on-line calculator, etc.) I have no idea how accurate these tools are under all conditions.

You could certainly try this with your beer with the assumption that a two-step process will yield the same 'answer' and that the tool (calculation) will yield an accurate answer. I would recommend that if you go this route that it would be prudent to treat the resulting beer with extra care. Maybe store your bottles inside of a container to contain potential explosions of the bottle bombs in case they happen.

Unless somebody chimes in with a post that they did exactly what you are proposing to do and experienced zero issues you are breaking new ground here.

Like many aspects of homebrewing you are in control of your homebrewery so you are the ultimate decider here.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Cheers!

 

It is not as simple to calculate an expected FG for extract as it is for AG as you don't know the mashing parameters nor the actual grain bill used to make the extract.

 

A few thoughts...
- Maybe change your major from math to English? The English have learned that a 3.6% ale is not necessarily a bad thing. You might see if you can live with it.
- Throwing out 2.5 gallons shouldn't break your bank or your heart.
- Trying to rescue a beer from a mistake can be a challenge. It can be a fun learning experience, but be prepared for failure.
- You might be better off devoting your time and money to a new small batch.

 

I lol-ed.

 

How about leaving the two beers in primary while you brew a triple-malted version of the recipe in a 1-gallon batch and then blend the beers when the new one is done fermenting?

 

IMO, many half baked fixes (like adding fermentables after the dry hop stage) can be worse than the problems they are intended to fix. I'd let it ride.

Or, taste it at bottling time, and add some maltodextrin if warranted. Actually, I'm not really sure how readily maltodextrin will dissolve in room/fermentation temp beer. If nobody can answer that definitively, you might want dissolve it in the smallest amount of boiling water that will do the trick.

@jbakajust1 have you added maltodextrin powder directly to beer?

 

I've never tried adding it to a beer, just as you suggested, in boiling water. I measured out the proper amount of sucrose to carbonate and then added the maltodextrin with it to a pint of boiling water, then mixed into bottling bucket.

 

That's not very pale. Might have some body already. Could be tasty